The hemangioma is the most frequent tumor in childhood. Besides surgery which, sometimes is difficult to carry out due to the extent or localization of the tumors, there are no effective treatments approved by health authorities to treat hemangiomas. Likewise, other vascular tumors such as the hemangioblastoma are difficult to treat.
Pterygium is an angiodependant corneal disease originated due to the activation and proliferation of limbal epithelial stem cells (Dushku N, Reid T W. Curr Eye Res, 1994). Likewise, corneal and retinal neovascularization may cause visual impairments and blindness. Diabetic retinopathy is the main cause of blindness on people over 20.
The Helicobacter pylori, is a Gram negative bacteria that infects at least 50% of the world population, and may cause several gastrointestinal diseases such as chronic gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcer and stomach cancer (Suerbaum S, Michetti P. N Engl J Med, 2002). H. pylori infections predispose to the development and progression of stomach cancer (Yeo M et al. Gut, 2006).
Barrett's disease is originated by gastroesophageal reflux that transforms the esophagus normal squamous epithelium into a columnar epithelium. This process may produce adenocarcinomas.
Ulcerative colitis (proctitis, proctosigmoiditis, pancolitis) is a disease that causes ulcers in the rectum and colon producing bleeding and diarrhea.
Crohn's disease is an autoimmune chronic disease producing intestinal inflammation. Even if it may affect the whole gastrointestinal tract, most frequently it affects the ileum.
Arthritis is a usually chronic condition that causes stiffness, pain and sometimes joint swelling (it includes osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gouty arthritis, lupus-related arthritis, and the like).
Asthma is a chronic disease that affects the airways constricting them. Current therapies for asthma are partially effective, and it is still one of the main causes of infant mortality.
Endometriosis or the growth of the endometrium outside de uterus is a disease that affects 10-15% of women of reproductive age. Endometriosis is associated with dysmenorrhea, abdominal pain, dysuria; and among 30% of affected women, infertility. Nowadays there is no effective treatment for endometriosis or for benign prostatic hyperplasia (Snowartz F et al. Histol Histopathol, 2000; Boget S et al. Eur J Endocrinol, 2001).
Benign prostatic hyperplasia is a disease in which the prostate gland is considerably enlarged and may cause micturition-related alterations. Even if there are pharmacological treatments for benign prostatic hyperplasia, their efficacy is limited and, in the end, many patients require surgery with at least a partial resection of the gland.
Every year, in the United States, 6 million people suffer from musculoskeletal diseases, mainly, fiber breaking (McClatchey K D. Arch Pathol Lab Med, 2004). Regeneration of damaged muscle implies a process that frequently causes alterations in the muscular function. Currently, there are no effective therapies to treat muscle injuries.
The ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome is a iatrogenic, and potentially fatal complication produced by ovulation induction in infertility treatments. The clinical characteristics of the syndrome are produced by a severe inflammatory reaction that produces massive accumulation of extravascular fluid. Other clinical symptoms include hypercoagulability, thromboembolic conditions, respiratory distress syndrome, and death.
The polycystic kidney disease is the most common hereditary kidney disease, with a prevalence of 1:1000. The affected patients are candidates for kidney transplantation. These patients comprise from 5 to 10% of kidney transplant receivers. One characteristic of this disease is hypervascularization of the pericystic area with the formation of new blood vessels on the cyst wall, which suggests that angiogenesis is an important factor in the progression of the renal cystic disease (Bernhardt W M et al. Am J Physiol, 2007).
Leishmaniasis, produced by the parasitation of species of the genus Leishmania, is the third most important disease among vector-transmitted diseases. It is transmitted to mammals, including humans, by the bite of mosquitoes of the genus Phlebotomus. It is estimated that every year, there are 1.5-2 million cases of leishmaniasis worldwide, and that 350 million people are in risk of suffering from the disease. Leishmaniasis is associated to a wide variety of clinical symptoms that include, skin ulcerative lesions in the area of the bite (localized cutaneous leishmaniasis), multiple non-ulcerative nodules (diffuse cutaneous leishmaniasis), inflammation and destruction of the mucosa (mucosal leishmaniasis) and disseminated visceral infection, potentially fatal (leishmaniasis visceral) (Murray et al. Lancet, 2005). The current treatment for leishmaniasis comprises pentavalent antimonial salts, mainly Pentosam (sodium stibogluconate) and Glucantime (N-methylglucamine antimoniate). These treatments are associated with important side effects affecting the kidney, the liver and the heart (Ouellete M J et al. Drug Resist Updates, 2004). Therefore, there is a considerable clinical interest in finding new, safe and efficient treatments for leishmaniasis.
Pain is an unpleasant emotional (subjective) and sensorial (objective) experience associated to a lesion. This is the main reason why patients demand medical consultation.
Therefore and in spite of the recent scientific advances and of knowledge about the etiology of many diseases described in this invention, there are not really effective treatments for those diseases.